The present invention relates to a network capturing apparatus capable of performing a voice communication, a displaying method for activating a computer system to control the network camera, a computer-readable recording medium storing the program, and a network system for performing image and voice communications with the computer system.
In recent years, there has spread the network system, in which an image is taken by a network camera and is transmitted to a computer system through the network such as the internet. However, this network system can acquire the image information by controlling the computer system but not the surrounding voice information. Thus, there has been developed the network camera (as will be called the “voice mapping type network camera”), which is enabled to perform not only the image communication but also the voice communication by mounting a speaker and a microphone.
FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of a network system for the voice communication of the related art. In this network system, in connection with the transmission of an image, an image taken by a camera 1 of a voice mapping type network camera 1 is compressed by an image processor 12, and this compressed image data is processed in a protocol by a communication control unit 13. This processed data is sent to a network 3 and to a computer system 2. This computer system 2 decompresses the image data received, and displays it on a screen. Although not shown in FIG. 8, a plurality of voice mapping type network cameras 1 are connected with the network 3 so that the computer system 2 acquires the image information taken by each camera 10 by interchanging the voice mapping type network cameras 1.
In connection with the voice communication, moreover, the voice inputted from a microphone 17 is subjected to an AD conversion and a compression by a voice transmission processor 15 so that the voice transmission data is sent through the communication control unit 13 and the network 3 to the computer system 2. This computer system 2 processes the voice transmission data received, and outputs a voice from a speaker 28. Likewise, the voice inputted from a microphone 27 of the computer system 2 is processed by the computer system 2 and is transmitted as the voice reception data so that it is sent through the network 3 to the voice mapping type network camera 1. In this voice mapping type network camera 1, the voice reception data received is transferred through the communication control unit 13 to a voice reception processor 14, in which the data is decompressed and DA-converted and is outputted to a speaker 18.
In case a user of the voice mapping type network camera 1 in this network system sends a voice and listens to a collected sound, the user inputs the voice to the microphone 27 of the computer system 2. After voice data was transmitted, the voice is outputted from the speaker 18 of the voice mapping type network camera 1. Simultaneously with this, the voice is collected by the microphone 17 and is transmitted to the computer system 2 so that it is outputted from the speaker 28. A control unit 19 controls the entire system of the voice mapping type network camera 1. On the other hand, the voice is processed in the computer system 2 by the JAVA (of a registered trade mark) applet program downloaded from the voice mapping type network camera 1.
When the image information is to be acquired from the plural voice mapping type network cameras 1, it has been proposed (as referred to JP-A-9-247637, for example) that the states of the voice being transmitted and received are displayed on the display. The network system of JP-A-9-247637 has been proposed for a TV conference system or the like, in which a plurality of video/audio communication terminals each equipped with a video camera, a microphone and a speaker are connected with the network. The screens to be displayed on the displays of the video/audio communication terminals display a list of the multi-point video display windows of the video cameras. There are also displayed camera control panels, direction buttons for the pan (horizontal) control and the tilt (vertical) control, and zoom buttons for the zoom controls. Moreover, there are further displayed the symbols for indicating the video transmissions. The displays of symbols indicate that the images taken by the video cameras are being sent to the network 3. While the symbol indicating the voice transmission is displayed and being displayed, it is indicated that the input by the microphone and the output of the input voice to the network are effective. While the symbol indicating the voice being received is being displayed, the voice received from the network and outputted by the speaker is effective.
In case the voice transmission/reception between the voice mapping type network camera 1 and the computer system 2 is made in a half duplex manner, the microphone 27 of the computer system 2 cannot be used while the sound around the voice mapping type network camera 1 is being outputted from the speaker 28 of the computer system 2. During the inputting from the microphone 27 of the computer system 2, on the other hand, the sound around the voice mapping type network camera 1 cannot be outputted from the speaker 28.
In case, moreover, the plural voice mapping type network cameras 1 are shared by a plurality of users in such network system, only earlier one of the users can use the microphone 27, but the remaining users cannot. If the information is not transmitted the individual users, the controls lose comfortableness.
Here in JP-A-9-247637, the symbol indicating the voice being transmitted is displayed in the display of the video/audio communication terminal of the TV conference system or the like, to indicate that the input and the transmission of the input voice to the network are effective. At the same time, the symbol indicating the voice being received is displayed to indicate that the voice output of the received voice from the network is effective. However, this TV conference system or the like does not perform the aforementioned voice transmission/reception in the half duplex communication.
In view of the problems of the related art thus far described, therefore, the invention has an object to provide a network capturing apparatus, a displaying method, a computer-readable recording medium, and a network system, which can perform voice communications simply by comfortable operations.
In order to solve the above problems of the related art, according to the invention, there is provided a network capturing apparatus capable of transmitting an image taken with a camera to one or more terminals made possible to perform the half duplex voice communication, through a network and communicating the terminal in voice. When a communication unit receives a demand from the terminal, a page information creation unit creates the page information, which makes: a first button display indicating the voice outputting possibility, in case the voice output is not inhibited and another terminal is not the voice output; a second button display indicating the voice output in case the voice output is performed; and a third button display indicating a temporary voice output inhibit, in case another terminal is in the voice transmission, and which can be altered, when selected, to another button display in accordance with the change in the communication state, and the communication unit transmits the page information to the terminal.
According to the network capturing apparatus, the displaying method, the computer-readable recording medium, and the network system of the invention, the voice communication can be done comfortably and simply merely by making controls while observing the icon on the screen displaying page.
In order to solve the above problems of the related art, according to the invention, there is provided a network capturing apparatus which is adapted to connect to at least one terminal through a network, comprising:                a page information generating unit that generates first page information to be displayed on the terminals;        a communication unit that communicates with the terminal through the internet;        a capturing unit that captures an image around the network capturing apparatus;        a voice collecting unit that collects a sound around the network capturing apparatus;        a voice outputting unit that outputs a sound based on sound data transmitted from the network; and        a control unit that controls a voice communication with the sound data regarding the collected sound and the outputted sound in half duplex communication,        wherein the page generating unit generates the first page information in response to a request of the first page information from the at least one of the terminal;        wherein the first page information includes an caption image captured by the capturing unit and at least one of a first display information, a second information and a third information;        wherein the first page information includes the first display information that indicates a voice outputting possibility in a case that the voice output is not inhibited at the terminal that transmits the request of the first page information and the another terminal does not output the sound data to the communication unit;        wherein the first page information includes the second display information that indicates a voice is outputting in a case that a voice output is performed at the terminal that transmits the request of the first page information;        wherein the first page information includes the third display information that indicates a temporary voice output inhibit in a case that the another terminal is in the voice data transmission; and        wherein the page generating unit generates a second page information so as to change one display information to another display information in accordance with the change in a communication state of the network and a selection regarding at least one of the first to third display information and the communication unit transfers the second generated page information to the terminal.        
In the above configuration, since the first display information (first button display) indicating a voice outputting possibility, the second display information (second button display) indicating a voice outputting, and a third display information (third button display) indicating a temporary voice output inhibit are displayed in the first page information, a current state of the voice communication is easily grasped at the terminal. Further, when some button display is depressed, the depressed button display is altered to other button display in accordance with the change of the state of the voice communication. Therefore, the voice communication can be easily and comfortably performed by operating while seeing the button display.